Concern over lack of support by Government

The Government was criticised for failing to publicly endorse its own expert report on alcohol.

There was also concern that the status of the report had been downgraded from being the Government’s strategy to tackle alcohol misuse, to being the report of an expert group.

Fergus McCabe, a community representative on the national substance misuse strategy steering group, said he was “extremely disappointed at the lack of political support” for the report.

“This is evidenced by the failure of the minister of health to be here and Róisín Shortall leaving the meeting,” he said.

Ms Shortall, the minister of state at the department of health, who is responsible for the substance misuse strategy, received a copy of the report at the beginning of the launch and spoke briefly before leaving. In her comments, she said the report would be a “platform for public debate”.

Health Minister James Reilly did not attend as he was at a Cabinet meeting.

Mr McCabe said there was a question over whether or not the Government would implement the report. He said all ministers should have publicly endorsed it.

Another steering group member, Denis Bradley, of the National Advisory Committee on Drugs, said he was “shocked” and “angered” by reports that four ministers had objected to key recommendations in the report on advertising and sponsorship.

He called on them to publicly back the report, even if they disagreed with aspects of it.

Fellow member, Fiona Ryan of Alcohol Action Ireland, said it would have been “helpful” if health ministers Ms Shorthall and Mr Reilly had publicly endorsed the report.

She said Ms Shortall had done so previously on minimum pricing, as had Dr Reilly more recently at a North-South ministerial meeting.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner afterwards, Ms Shortall said there was “no question” of the Government distancing itself from the report. She said she had left the meeting to allow the voices of the experts be heard.

She said the report would “form the basis” of the Government’s strategy and she would bring an “action plan” to the Cabinet in the coming months.

Dr Tony Holohan, group chairman, said that expert reports never automatically become Government policy.

He also said he did not think the Government was “resiling” from implementing the report.

The National News-papers of Ireland (NNI) welcomed the report and its endorsement of the effective operation of the existing codes governing alcohol advertising in the print media.

The NNI said it had met with the Department of Health to discuss how best to limit the misuse of alcohol by young people and agreed to abide with a strict code.